


Once Upon a Basket...

by Aura_Wolf_Writes



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24309511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aura_Wolf_Writes/pseuds/Aura_Wolf_Writes
Summary: Ahker and Asra find a surprise on the doorstep of their house in Nopal
Relationships: Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana)
Kudos: 18





	Once Upon a Basket...

**Author's Note:**

> For Love Like Yours Fest.  
> Day 6: Nothing can harm you

“Hmm, it’s certainly been a while since we’ve been here.”  
“Do you think they’ll have any more of that grilled cactus for us?”  
“Knowing how they reacted after the last time, I’d say there’s a good chance.”  
“Well, it’s late, so I doubt there’s anyone awake down there,” I said, trying not to yawn.  
“And with that, I think we should go inside,” Asra said chuckling. With a little bit of magic, he unlocked the door, and we walked into the quiet little house. “Oh dear. I think the succulents died again.”  
Now it was my turn to chuckle. “Good thing you're better with magic then you are plants my love.”  
“Should I revive them like last time or…?”  
“Maybe don’t. I don’t think those poor plants deserve to suffer a third time.”  
“You wound me,” he replied as he set our bags down. “Let me just light this, so they know we’re here.” With a snap, Asra lit a few candles sitting in the front window.  
Sleep, said Faust, slithering out of Asra’s scarf.  
“Oh, there you are Faust,” I said as I rearranged the pillows and blankets on the bed. “You were quiet today.”  
Hide.  
“You seem to like that game lately,” Asra said. “Why don’t you find somewhere to hide and sleep?”  
Hide! And with that, she was slithering off. We would probably find her in the morning, “hidden” in plain sight.  
“Well now that that’s taken care of…” Asra said, crawling into bed.  
“Hmm? Did you have something in mind?” I said teasing.  
“With you, always,” he said, positioning himself over me, and capturing my lips in a kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up first, as usual. I blinked my eyes against the sun beginning to flit into the windows. Slowly, I moved out of the bed, careful not to disturb Asra. As I left the room, I glanced over at his sleeping form, all cocooned in the blankets.  
Opening the front door, I stepped outside. I breathed in the clear morning air, then went to the water pump. But as I came back, I dropped the vase in shock at what I saw. Faust curled around a simple wicker basket, mostly covered in a blanket.  
“What happened…oh my.”  
“Was this here last night?”  
“I- I don’t think so.”  
Was asleep. Heard noise. Found.  
“Guess that’s Faust’s way of saying this wasn’t here last night,” I said, running a hand through my hair.  
“Should we bring it inside?” Asra asked. Just as he did, however, the basket shifted, and crying was heard.  
“Definitely bring it inside,” he said.  
Carefully, he picked up the basket and carried it into the house. I followed close behind. I watched as Asra carefully set the basket on the bed, then peeled back the blanket.  
Inside, a lilac haired baby peered back at us, quieting momentarily stopped by the removal of the blanket. This, however, was short-lived, as the baby began to cry again. Panicked, Asra looked at me. “I don’t know what to do.”  
I didn’t know much either, but I figured between the two of us, we could figure it out. “We should probably contact your parents.”  
Using some water poured into a dish, we attempted to call Aisha and Salim. Thankfully, Aisha answered very quickly. “Asra Alinsar, what did you do this time. To call me at such an early hour.”  
“Someone left a baby on our doorstep,” I said, cutting in, before Asra could say anything.  
“Oh.”  
“It won’t stop crying.”  
Aisha smiled a bit. “Well, now you know a bit of how I felt. Anyway, they could be hungry, or need a diaper change. I don’t suppose either of you has diapers or formula on your persons?”  
“Unfortunately not.”  
“I thought as much. Well you’re in Nopal aren’t you? Why don’t one of you go into town, and the other stay with the baby? You might be able to find out who left it.”  
“Great idea mom. Love you, bye.”  
“Wait-!” But before she could say anything, Asra had already ended the communication.  
“Would you go? I think you could find all the stuff we need better than me.”  
“Are you sure you can handle a baby?” I asked.  
“Faust did it, she can help me.” I shook my head slightly but agreed to go into town.  
An hour later, I returned with some bottles, formula, and diapers. No one in town knew who might’ve left the baby. No one in the town had given birth recently, so they must not have been from Nopal.  
Surprisingly, I did not hear any crying as I approached the house. As I opened the door, I saw Asra sitting in a chair, the baby swaddled in his scarf. I smiled at the sight. However, the peace didn’t last long, as the sound of the door closing caused the baby to start and begin crying.  
“Did you get what you needed?”  
“Yes. You can change the diaper. I’ll get the bottle ready.”  
“Why do I get the hard job?” he said, whining a little.  
“Because I had to the hard part first.” I handed him a diaper and told him what the woman in the town told me. Then, I went to the kitchen and mixed up the bottle.  
“Well, it’s a girl,” I heard Asra say, and I walked out of the kitchen. I hadn’t even thought to see what gender it was.  
“That’s good to know,” I said as I sat down in a chair. “Might help us find her family. No one in town seemed to know anything about who might’ve left her.”  
“Well, she’s all changed.”  
“Great, hand her here.” Carefully, I took the baby from him, and began to feed her from the bottle. When she was done, I patted her carefully on the back until she burped, like the woman I bought the formula from had told me to do.  
“How did you know how to do that?” Asra asked me with wide eyes.  
“A woman in town told me how to do it.” With a full belly and clean diaper, she seemed to calm.  
Standing over my shoulder, Asra smiled down at her. “She has eyes like me,” he said. Indeed she did; her tiny little eyes the color of lavender.  
“We should probably get back to Vesuvia,” I said. “We can ask Nadia if anyone has said anything about a missing baby. Or one recently orphaned.”  
“I agree. I just hope the beast isn’t too mad about going so soon.”  
We put everything back in our bags and then went to wake the beast. It didn’t mind. Asra swaddled her in his scarf like before, and we took off for Vesuvia.  
When we got back to the shop, Aisha and Salim were already there waiting for us. “I knew you’d be coming back soon,” she said. “Let me see them.”  
“Well, it’s a girl,” Asra said. “We figured that much out.”  
Carefully, Asra handed his mother the baby girl. In Aisha’s presence, she calmed almost instantly, cooing, and pulling at her headscarf. “Aw. What a sweetheart.”  
“Well, I’ll save you the trouble of going to the palace,” Salim said. We already talked to Nadia. Nothing.”  
“So she was just, abandoned?” I asked.  
“It seems that way.”  
“What do we do then?”  
“Well, you can keep her, or you can give her to someone else,” Aisha said as she handed Asra the baby.  
Cradling her in his arms, Asra looked over at me, eyes searching mine. Subtly, I nodded, knowing that we were in agreement.  
“I think, I think that we’ll take care of her.” Aisha practically light up at that, and I could tell that she was trying not to cry.  
“You know, we really should stop calling her the baby,” Asra said.  
“What should we name her?”  
“Hmm.” I watched him turn his head this way and that a few times, then nod. “Lucia.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few weeks later, it was official. Aisha and Salim were overjoyed to be grandparents. Aisha especially. She had been showering Lucia with gifts ever since we had decided to adopt her.  
As we rocked her to sleep that night, Asra leaned over the crib and gently placed a kiss on her forehead.  
“Nothing’s going to harm you now,” he whispered.


End file.
